Titans Outlast UC Davis in Triple Overtime, 94-92

Davis, Calif. - Jermaine Harper scored 21 points including seven in the third overtime period as Cal State Fullerton outlasted host UC Davis Saturday afternoon, 94-92, in a non-conference game.

The win snapped Fullerton's 3-game losing streak and improved its record to 10-8 while the Aggies fell to 6-14. It was only the second triple overtime game in history for CSF, which won a similar length game vs. UC Irvine on Feb. 25, 1982. Fullerton also has played two four overtime games.

Phil Rasmussen led the Aggies with 25 points and five teammates were in double figures. Bobby Brown got all 17 of his CSF points in the final 23 minutes and Justin Burns had 14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.

Davis had the last shot in regulation to break a 68-68 tie but Rasmussen missed a spinning drive. Fullerton had the last shot of the first overtime but Robinson was short on a foul-line jumper to leave the score 72-72. Davis had the last possession of the second overtime but Vince Oliver missed a hurried 3-pointer and it was 76-76.

Fullerton scored 13 of the first 14 points of the third overtime and appeared to have a safe 12-point lead with 1:14 to play. But Rasmussen hit a 3-pointer and Thomas Juillerat made a 3-point play and the Titans needed some clutch free-throw shooting in the final 40 seconds by Harper and John Clemmons, who matched his career high for the second game in a row with 10 points. UC Davis got within 4 points twice in the final 13 seconds but never any closer until Rommel Marentez hit a 3-pointer at the final buzzer.

The Titans lost starting forward Jamaal Brown to a broken nose with about 9 minutes to play in regulation. He will be examined by doctors to see if there are additional facial fractures.

"This was an absolutely terrific win for us," said Head Coach Bob Burton. "It's one of the best since I've been here. We played through a lot of adversity and fought so hard. We played with toughness. That's a game we wouldn't have won without toughness. We really stepped it up."

Robinson and Bobby Brown for Fullerton and Kyle Brucculeri and Jesse Lopez Low all fouled of the game during the overtime periods.

Fullerton led very early in the game, 9-5, but lost the advantage to a 26-8 run by UC Davis, which led by as many as 15 in the first half and by 10 with 14 minutes to go in regulation. Fullerton led briefly by one or two points with 7 minutes to go but needed back-to-back 3-point field goals by Harper and Bobby Brown in the final 2:22 to catch up.